The present invention is directed to an apparatus and method for applying fitments to a container. More particularly, the present invention pertains to an apparatus and method for linearly applying fitments to a gable top carton.
Form, fill, and seal packaging machines have been used for decades in the food packaging industry to package, for example, liquid foods such as milk or juice. In operation, these machines form or bottom seal containers from a blank (typically a heat-sealable plastic and paperboard laminate), fill the containers with a desired product and top seal the containers for subsequent distribution. Gable top cartons are among the most common types of containers formed, filled, and sealed by these machines.
Consumers have now come to expect that such containers include a resealable spout o fitment. Typically, such fitments include a cap to readily permit closing and sealing the container after initial opening of the container. These fitments are generally applied to the container at a station on the form, fill and seal packaging machine. At the applicator station, fitments are dispensed from a feed system to an applicator and moved into contact with the carton. The applicator typically includes a sealing device, such as an ultrasonic sealing or welding head, which moves into contact with the carton (on an exterior surface of the carton) while an accompanying fitment rests on an anvil that is moved into contact with an interior surface of the carton. Energy transmitted from the sealing device into the carton material above the fitment seals the fitment to the carton. An example of a form, fill, and seal packaging machine with such an applicator station is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,504 (the ′504 patent), assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference.
Because many modem packaging machines operate at high speeds (some at speeds up to about 14,000 packages per hour), the spouts or fitments must be applied at a rate commensurate with the overall speed of the packaging machine, as well as precisely and accurately positioned. Many known fitment applicators are designed to place fitments into holes pre-cut into cartons at one station, and then to attach the fitments to the cartons at another station. One clear disadvantage of such a dual station applicator is the substantial additional space required to incorporate two additional stations into the limited and confined space of the packaging machine. Another disadvantage to dual station fitment applicators is the potential for a fitment to become displaced from its carton during transportation from the station at which the fitment is inserted into the carton to the station at which the fitment is attached to the carton.
Still another disadvantage to dual station fitment applicators is the necessity of indexed conveyance of the cartons to two additional stations. Recent fitment applicators such as the apparatus disclosed in the ′504 patent have attempted to respond to these disadvantages. Though such devices may succeed in reducing the dual station fitment applicators to a single station they remain complex constructions, requiring several separate moving parts all subject to wear, and difficult to assemble and align.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a simple apparatus and method for linearly applying fitments to a carton. Desirably, such a fitment applicator for use with the method quickly and accurately selects and applies fitments at a single station. Such a fitment applicator is easy to assemble and align. More desirably, such a fitment applicator requires little space and a minimum of moving parts. Most desirably, such an fitment applicator also includes a means for locking the apparatus into position while fitments are sealed to the containers, increasing performance reliability and ensuring that the fitments are properly aligned during the sealing process.